Raphael Sanford Gibbs, educator and writer, was born in Yakima, Washington, on April 29, 1912, to Sanford Oliver and Anna (Sandmeyer) Gibbs. He attended the University of Idaho where he majored in journalism and from which he graduated with highest honors and a Phi Beta Kappa key in 1934.

Following his graduation he was employed by the university as Director of Sports Publicity. He resigned that position in 1935 to join the editorial staff of the Milwaukee Journal where he remained until called to active military duty in 1941. He served in the Army Air Corps on the staff of the Air Inspector until 1946. Upon leaving the military he returned to the University of Idaho where, in addition to teaching, he assumed the position of Director of Information and editor of publications.

After his retirement from the university in 1970 he became Assistant Dean of University Relations at Florida International University, Miami, from 1971 to 1974.

In 1962 Gibbs published Beacon for Mountain and Plain, a history of the University of Idaho, and in 1974 was commissioned by Governor Cecil Andrus to write a history of Idaho as a bicentennial project; Beckoning the Bold (University Press of Idaho, 1976) was the result. In addition to these two books, he has, since he published his first article at the age of 13, published several hundred articles in such magazines as This Week, Ford Times, Esquire, Popular Mechanics, and Sports Afield. He is also the author of the Idaho article in the International Encyclopedia.

Rafe Gibbs married Elizabeth Ferne Egeland on October 3, 1940, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; they have two sons and three daughters. The Gibbs now live in Cape Canaveral, Florida where he divides his time between writing and fishing.